Electrical guitars require various electrical cords which extend from the guitar to the source of electrical power such as a standard wall outlet or the like. In addition, the guitar must be connected by electrical cords to any amplifying equipment and any other sound signal conditioning system associated with the guitar. As a result, the movement of a musician using the guitar is often restricted and inhibited, with the performer often becoming entangled in the electrical cords associated with the instrument.
Accordingly, the art has contained several examples of electrical guitars that are intended to alleviate this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,781,451, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an electric guitar that operates without the use of cords.
While somewhat successful, devices such as the incorporated patented device suffer from a drawback in that they use a microphone or other such acoustic transducer to pick up the pressure fluctuations in the air associated with the strings and convert such pressure fluctuations into electrical signals which are then translated back into acoustic signals via speakers or the like.
Several psychoacoustic studies have indicated that there is a difference in pressure level sensed for audible sounds in minimum audible pressure between sounds heard over the air as opposed to sounds heard directly through a headphone. Noise, and the like contributes to such difference. Furthermore, loudness and pitch may differ when an acoustic signal is received over the air as opposed to directly, and masking may be more likely to occur when a sound signal is heard over the air as opposed to directly.
Therefore, devices such as the incorporated patented device suffer some degradation in sound reproduction because they use an over-the-air connection between the strings of the instrument and the sound pickup devices thereof.
Therefore, there is a need for a musical instrument, such a guitar, which faithfully reproduces the sounds emitted by the strings of that instrument without being subject to acoustic distortions and interference associated with over-the-air sound transmission between the strings and the sound pickup device.